NBA
Private equity mogul William Chisholm has agreed to buy the Boston Celtics in a deal that values the NBA’s reigning champions and most-decorated franchise at a minimum of $6.1 billion. It's the largest price ever for American professional sports team. If the deal is approved by the NBA’s board of governors this summer, the sale would top the $6.05 billion paid for the NFL’s Washington Commanders in 2023. Chisholm is a Massachusetts native and graduate of Dartmouth College who is the managing partner of California-based Symphony Technology Group.
LaMelo Ball had 25 points and five Charlotte players scored in double figures as the Hornets beat the New York Knicks 115-98 Thursday night for their fourth victory in seven games. Ball added eight assists as teammates Mark Williams (19 points, 14 rebounds), Miles Bridges (15 points, 10 rebounds), DaQuan Jeffries (14 points) and Nick Smith, Jr. (13 points) also reached double figures. O.G. Anunoby scored 25 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points, 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost three of their last four games and six of their last nine.
Brooklyn Nets guard/forward Trendon Watford was ejected after scuffling with Indiana Pacers players in the fourth quarter of an overtime loss. The Pacers scored a basket, then Watford ran towards Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard and shoved him. Indiana’s Myles Turner ran over and made contact with Watford, and Watford shoved him. Players, team personnel and officials entered the fray, but the incident did not escalate. Two sets of double technicals were issued — to Watford and Nembhard and to Watford and Turner. Brooklyn led 84-79 when the incident occurred. Indiana outscored the Nets 26-15 the rest of the way.
Coby White scored 35 points as the Chicago Bulls beat the Sacramento Kings 128-116. Kevin Huerter scored 25 points while adding five rebounds, seven assists, and four steals. Nikola Vucevic shot 9 for 14, including 4 for 5 from beyond the arc to finish with 24 points. Malik Monk led the way for the Kings with 34 points and five assists. Sacramento also got 22 points and six rebounds from Trey Lyles. An 11-0 run in the third quarter turned a five-point deficit into a six-point lead for the Bulls.
Jimmy Butler had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for his second triple-double with Golden State and the Warriors held on to beat the Toronto Raptors 117-114 after Stephen Curry left the game with an injury. Curry did not play the final 15 minutes after suffering a pelvic contusion. Curry was hurt while driving for a layup late in the third quarter and crashed hard to the floor. He remained down for several moments before getting helped to the locker room. Draymond Green added 21 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors. Scottie Barnes had 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors.
Bronny James was the bright spot for the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers. He set career highs with 17 points and five assists in his most extensive NBA minutes in a 118-89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night. The oldest son of LeBron James was the Lakers’ most effective offensive player in a game in which they were missing their top four scorers because of injury. Bronny James was 7 of 10 from the field, showing the growth and promise that makes head coach JJ Redick confident the 20-year-old can and will contribute as a professional.
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s playing status is uncertain after the two-time NBA MVP sustained a pelvic injury during Thursday night’s 117-114 win over the Toronto Raptors. Curry, who was returning to the court after sitting out Tuesday to rest, got hurt while driving for a layup late in the third quarter. He landed hard on his tailbone as he crashed to the floor and remained down for several moments before being helped to his feet and taken to the locker room.
NHL
Bo Horvat scored his second goal of the game 3:37 into overtime to lift the New York Islanders past the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 for their third straight victory. Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves and had his first two assists of the season, the first Islanders goalie with multiple points in a game. Anthony Duclair and Simon Holmstrom also had goals for the Islanders, who moved within two points of the Canadiens for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Brendan Gallagher tied it for Montreal with 14:16 left after the Canadiens trailed 3-1 early in the third period. Joshua Roy and Patrik Laine also scored for the Canadiens. Sam Montembeault made 21 saves.
John Tavares scored twice and an added an assist, and Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New York Rangers 4-3. Bobby McMann and Matthew Knies also scored to help Toronto win its third straight. Jake McCabe had three assists and William Nylander contributed two. Will Borgen, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers, who lost their third game in a row at home in regulation and fell to 2-5-2 in their last nine overall.
Dylan Guenther scored on a rebound with 5:47 to play to put the Utah Hockey Club ahead to stay in a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Guenther’s team-leading 25th goal of the season gave Utah a 3-2 lead before the team added a pair of empty-netters. Mikhail Sergachev had two goals, including one of the empty-netters, and Logan Cooley also scored a goal. Karel Vejmelka stopped 26 shots. JJ Peterka scored a goal for the Sabres in his return to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. Ryan McLeod also scored for Buffalo and James Reimer had 25 saves.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored three times for his second career hat trick and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the skidding Boston Bruins 5-1. Dorofeyev’s first hat trick came in a 5-3 loss at Nashville on Jan. 14. Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev also scored for Vegas, which extended its Pacific Division lead to three points over Edmonton. Adin Hill made 18 saves. Hill came close to his fifth shutout this season, but Morgan Geekie scored his 24th goal for Boston with 2:11 left. Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 shots for the Bruins, who lost their fourth in a row. With 12 games remaining, the Bruins are five points back of the second wild-card slot in the Eastern Conference.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored with 3:20 left to play to lift the Calgary Flames to a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Matt Coronato, Connor Zary, Daniil Miromanov and Nazem Kadri also had goals for Calgary, which erased a two-goal deficit in the third period with four unanswered goals for its second straight road win. Rookie Dustin Wolfe made 26 saves in the victory. Nico Hischier recorded a goal and an assist for the Devils, extending his points streak to five straight games. Erik Haula and Paul Cotter also scored and Jacob Markstrom stopped 23 shots.
Alex Ovechkin has scored his 888th career goal to move seven away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career record. Ovechkin scored in the Washington Capitals' home game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. The 39-year-old winger now has 35 goals this season. Ovechkin at his current pace is on track to pass Gretzky's legendary 894-goal mark that was long considered unapproachable this spring. The Capitals have 13 games left in the regular season before starting the playoffs. Ovechkin has one year left on his current contract in case he does not get there this season.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 888th career goal to continue his pursuit of the NHL record, and the Washington Capitals clinched a playoff berth by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 and getting some help elsewhere. Ovechkin beat Samuel Ersson with 5:35 left in the first period to move eight goals back of passing Wayne Gretzky’s career mark of 894. Brandon Duhaime and Andrew Mangiapane also scored and Charlie Lindgren made 26 saves for the Capitals, who have won eight of their last nine games reach 100 points and pass Winnipeg atop the standings. Philadelphia has lost nine of 11.
Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Cale Makar and Joel Kiviranta all scored in Colorado’s first-period barrage and the Avalanche cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Nelson finished with two goals — his first two since being acquired by Colorado from the New York Islanders — and Scott Wedgewood made 15 saves Thursday night. Wedgewood’s shutout bid being ended by Dylan Cozens’ power-play goal with 4:41 left in the game. The Avalanche chased Linus Ullmark from the game just 17:29 in after he allowed four goals on 13 shots.
Aleksander Barkov scored a power-play goal 29 seconds into overtime and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for his 49th career shutout to lead the Florida Panthers to a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The win snapped a two-game road losing streak and kept Florida level with Toronto atop the Atlantic Division. Florida swept the season series between the teams and has won eight straight against Columbus since Dec. 13, 2022. Elvis Merzlikins, back in the lineup after missing two games for the birth of his second child, made 27 saves for Columbus, which has lost five straight.
Philip Broberg scored 3:42 into overtime and the St. Louis Blues beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 for their fourth straight victory. Tyler Tucker and Dylan Holloway scored 24 seconds apart for the Blues in the third period. Zack Bolduc also had a goal, and Jordan Binnington made 15 saves as St. Louis moved two points ahead of Vancouver for the second wild card in the Western Conference. Brock Boeser scored twice and Kiefer Sherwood also had a goal in the third period for the Canucks. Boeser’s second goal tied it 3-all with 4 seconds left in regulation. Kevin Lankinen stopped 25 shots for Vancouver, which is 8-7-1 in its last 16 games.
Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist on his 24th birthday, John Gibson made 33 saves and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1. Jackson LaCombe, Troy Terry and Alex Killorn also scored for the Ducks. Mason McTavish added two assists. Steven Stamkos gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first period. It was the 578th goal of Stamkos’ career, passing Mark Recchi for 22nd place in NHL history. Gibson made his first start after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. It was only his fourth appearance since a 26-save performance in a 2-1 victory over Dallas on Feb. 4. Anaheim improved to 5-7-2 in its past 14 games, including a 2-1 home win against Nashville last Friday.
Joseph Woll was outstanding in making 38 saves and Steven Lorentz scored short-handed early in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Wednesday night. Auston Matthews, with his fourth in the last three games, had the other goal for Toronto. Valeri Nichushkin scored for Colorado, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 24 shots. The Leafs won their second straight after thumping the Calgary Flames 6-2 on Monday following an ugly 1-4-1 stretch.
Trevor Moore and Alex Turcotte scored in the first period, and the Los Angeles Kings held on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Thursday night for their sixth win in seven games. Joel Edmundson fired from deep in the Kings’ zone and scored into an empty net with 19 seconds left to seal the win. Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves. Connor Bedard scored for the second straight game for Chicago. Spencer Knight stopped 30 shots.
Kyle Connor scored 1:13 into overtime to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, who lost Connor McDavid and Stuart Skinner to injuries. Cole Perfetti, Josh Morrissey and Brandon Tanev also scored for the Jets, who have won four of their last five. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves. Jeff Skinner had a pair of goals and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers, whose three-game winning streak was snapped. McDavid suffered a lower-body injury and Skinner made 13 saves for the Oilers before being involved in a late-game collision and removed due to concussion protocols.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid sustained a lower-body injury and has been ruled out from playing in the third period in Edmonton’s home game against the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets. The Oilers did not provide any further details on the extent of the injury. McDavid appeared to get hurt while attempting to chase down the puck in the Jets zone when he was bumped by Jets defenseman Josh Morrisey. In the second period, McDavid assisted on Jeff Skinner’s goal to extend his point streak to 13 games, in which he has combined for four goals and 15 assists.
Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Sean Walker each scored a goal, Frederik Andersen made 24 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes extended their winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. The Hurricanes broke a 1-all tie on Aho’s 26th goal less than five minutes into the third period. Walker scored at 14:18 to make it 3-1. The Sharks took an early lead on William Eklund’s short-handed goal 13 minutes of the first. Carolina tied it midway through the second on Jarvis’ 27th goal. San Jose goalie Georgi Romanov stopped 26 shots in his first NHL start.
MEN’S MARCH MADNESS
Jonas Aidoo scored 22 points to help 10th-seeded Arkansas to a 79-72 opening-round NCAA Tournament victory over No. 7 seed Kansas on Thursday night in the latest meeting between two of college basketball’s winningest coaches. Johnell Davis added 18 points, including some crucial late free throws, to help John Calipari to his first tournament victory as the Razorbacks' coach. Arkansas moves on to face St. John's and coach Rick Pitino, the NCAA's active leader in victories. Zeke Mayo had 18 points for Kansas, which has made 35 straight NCAA Tournaments and hadn’t lost in the first round since 2006.
Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg said he’ll be ready to play in Friday's NCAA Tournament opener against Mount St. Mary’s as he recovers from a sprained ankle. Flagg missed the last two games in top-seeded Duke's run to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title. The unanimous Associated Press first-team All-American went through the team's home-state public practice Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina. Friday's East Region schedule also includes Mississippi State against Baylor in Raleigh. In Cleveland, second-seeded Alabama faces Robert Morris, while Saint Mary's faces Vanderbilt. And in Seattle, Arizona meets Akron while Oregon faces Liberty.
McNeese President Wade Rousse had a two-year plan when he hired Will Wade as basketball coach. The goal was to make the NCAA Tournament in the first year and win a game in the second. After that, he figured it might be tough to keep Wade around. He was right on all counts. But that's OK with Rousse because he thinks the success of the basketball team will have a long-lasting effect on campus.
To March Madness where…
St. John’s 83 Omaha 53
The Red Storm will take on Arkansas Saturday afternoon at 2:40.
Texas A&M 80 Yale 71
The Aggies face Michigan Saturday evening at 5:15.
Eighth-seeded UConn, the two-time defending champion, hopes to keep its season going against ninth-seeded Oklahoma at 9:25 tonight.
In the women’s NCAA Tournament, 15th-seeded Vermont faces second-seeded North Carolina State at 2 p.m. Saturday. UConn earned a two seed and plays 15th-seeded Arkansas State Saturday at 1 p.m. And Fairfield was seeded 12th in a first-round matchup with fifth-seeded Kansas State at 2:30 this afternoon.
Iona University has hired New Orleans Pelicans assistant Dan Geriot as its new men’s basketball coach, three days after Tobin Anderson was fired following two years in the job as the replacement for Rick Pitino. The 36-year-old Geriot was in his 10th season as an NBA assistant, nine years with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the Pelicans. He played at Richmond and began his coaching career as an assistant at Princeton and Campbell. The Gaels finished this season 17-17 and reached the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game.
NFL
An indictment filed Thursday says that a former NFL and University of Michigan assistant football coach hacked into the computer accounts of thousands of college athletes to access intimate photos and videos. Matt Weiss was charged with 14 counts of unauthorized computer access and 10 counts of identity theft. Weiss worked for the Baltimore Ravens before joining the University of Michigan in 2021.He was fired in 2023 as Michigan’s co-offensive coordinator after failing to cooperate with the school’s investigation of his access to computers.
SOCCER
Cecilio Waterman scored a stunning goal in the fourth minute of second-half injury time, and Panama beat the three-time defending champion United States 1-0 to reach the CONCACAF Nations League final. Waterman took a pass down the right side from Adalberto Carrasquilla in front of a packed-in U.S. defense and fired a perfect right-footed diagonal shot past Matt Turner into the far left corner. Waterman’s 11th international goal, on Panama’s only shot on target on the night, advanced the Panamanians to a final Sunday against Mexico.
© 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
